A well-crafted intro video helps showcase your personality and skills, giving you an edge with recruiters in a job market increasingly shaped by AI.Getty Images
Damen Bell hadn’t even graduated yet when he took a hard look at the job market and realized his career search needed to begin immediately.
“There weren’t a lot of viable options,” he recalls. “I knew as soon as I was done school, there would be employers looking for two to three years of experience, even for entry-level roles. I didn’t have that, so I just started doing as much as I could to build up a portfolio.”
Mr. Bell’s early start and tenacity paid off. Since earning his Bachelor of Applied Arts in communications and PR from the University of Guelph-Humber, he secured a permanent, full-time role as communications co-ordinator at Critical Care Services Ontario, after a short stint at a Toronto hospital. The challenges he faced on the job hunt, however, inspired him to write a recent post on LinkedIn with tips and advice for other students on starting their careers.
While it’s common sense to study job descriptions carefully, for instance, Mr. Bell noticed a job posting at the Toronto hospital mentioned the organization planned to restart its webinar series. He decided to investigate further.
“I just Googled their webinar series from 2017 and I thought the graphic really sucked,” he says. “I thought, well, here’s a chance to show off my design skills.”
He downloaded the organization’s logo and researched its precise digital colour codes for branding consistency. Then, at the end of the interview, he showed a proposed new graphic for the webinar series – and got offered the job soon after.
Mr. Bell’s experience reflects a growing reality for new grads: Landing a job today requires more than just submitting a résumé.
How AI is transforming job-hunting for better or worse
Finding a way to go above and beyond could become more critical than ever as current students and recent grads look for employment opportunities. Research conducted by job board Indeed in January found only 44 per cent of Canadian job seekers feel confident they could find work quickly. For those unemployed, confidence was even lower, at just 34 per cent.
Shadi Ghani, founder and president of digital recruiting firm Pursuit Agency, says the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) may be exacerbating some of the traditional challenges candidates face.
“AI has not only made it easier to create resumés, it has also made it easier to apply for jobs. This has created a proliferation of applicant resumés for companies to review,” she says. “There’s nothing worse than applying for a job and seeing that there’s already 300 applicants, right? Ultimately, it means that some really great candidates get overlooked or passed over.”
Meanwhile, employers are using AI features in applicant tracking systems, Ms. Ghani notes, and the technology can have inherent biases that also lead to worthy candidates being overlooked.
One way of getting noticed by AI tools is making sure your application includes the precise keywords that jump out in the job description, says Mark Rouse, an executive search and marketing recruiter at Toronto-based IQ Partners. For example, if the job posting mentions using a content management system (CMS) or customer relationship management (CRM) system, be sure to list your experience with those specific tools.
Another effective tactic is to combine a traditional application with content that humans are more likely to look at than AI. For example, “An intro video is definitely a way to stand out, especially to a tech-savvy company,” Ms. Ghani says.
Job seekers should also not only create a compelling LinkedIn profile but be intentional in how they behave on the platform, Mr. Rouse says. Employers and recruiters read comments on executives’ posts, for example, and note who shares posts to their network.
“You need to engage with content, which doesn’t mean you have to create brand new content,” he says. “You should not only be looking for a job but trying to develop a following within your desired industry, which is another form of networking.”
The digital details that matter
Details may matter more than candidates realize. When Mr. Bell was creating his online portfolio, for instance, he noticed the organization where he was interning hosted its site on WordPress. He decided to use the same service – a move akin to dressing for the kind of job you want when you show up to an interview.
Since then, he’s noticed WordPress is the standard across most of the employers he’s considered. After securing an internship or job offer, Mr. Bell makes it a practice to ask – after a few months in the role – why he was chosen. “It’s usually my portfolio, the research I did on the company and my enthusiasm,” he says.
Mr. Rouse from IQ Partners says he’s surprised how few candidates really dig deep on the organizations that bring them in to discuss a role.
“Even if you’re only thinking of getting a job where you’ll stay for three to five years, the organization you choose will have a significant impact on your day-to-day life,” he says. “If you’re still in school or just out of school, think about how you will study for an exam for days beforehand. And make no mistake: Job interviews are also a test, and it’s pass or fail.”